SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean lawmakers on Wednesday called for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared a state of emergency only to reverse the move hours later, sparking the biggest political crisis in decades in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
The surprise statement late Tuesday sparked a standoff with parliament, which rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media, as armed troops stormed the National Assembly building in Seoul.
A coalition of lawmakers from opposition parties said they plan to propose a bill to impeach Yoon on Wednesday, which should be voted on within 72 hours.
“Parliament should focus on the immediate suspension of the president’s affairs in order to pass the impeachment law as soon as possible,” Hwang Un-ha, one of the lawmakers in the coalition, told reporters.
Yoon’s chief of staff and senior secretaries have offered a mass resignation, a presidential official said.
Yoon told the nation in a televised address that the state of emergency was necessary to defend the country against nuclear-armed North Korea and pro-Northern anti-state forces, and to protect its free constitutional order, though he did not list specific threats.
Chaotic scenes followed as helmeted soldiers climbed into the parliament building through broken windows and military helicopters flew overhead. Parliamentary aides sprayed fire extinguishers to push back the soldiers, and protesters clashed with police outside.
The army said that the activities of the parliament and political parties would be banned, and that the media and publishers would be under the supervision of the martial law command.
But hours after the announcement, South Korea’s parliament, with 190 of its 300 members present, unanimously passed a motion calling for the lifting of martial law, including all 18 members present from Yoon’s party. The president then canceled the declaration.
Protesters in front of the National Assembly shouted and clapped. “We won!” they chanted, and one demonstrator beat a drum.
New protests are expected on Wednesday with South Korea’s largest union coalition, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, planning to hold a rally in Seoul and vowing to strike until Yoon resigns.
The U.S. Embassy has urged American citizens in South Korea to avoid areas where protests are taking place, while some major employers, including Naver Corp and LG Electronics Inc (KS:) advised employees to work from home.
Financial markets were volatile with South Korean stocks down about 2% early on Wednesday, while the won stabilized at around 1,418 to the dollar after falling to a two-year low.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong held emergency meetings overnight, and the finance ministry pledged to support markets if needed.
“We will inject unlimited liquidity into stocks, bonds, the short-term money market as well as the forex market for now until they fully normalize,” the government said in a statement.
South Korea’s foreign exchange authorities were suspected of selling U.S. dollars in the onshore market early Wednesday to limit the won’s fall, two traders said.
DODGE A BULLET
The main opposition Democratic Party has called on Yoon, who is in office until 2022, to resign or face impeachment for declaring martial law, South Korea’s first since 1980.
“Even if the state of emergency is lifted, he cannot avoid charges of treason. It was clearly revealed to the entire nation that President Yoon could no longer lead the country normally. He should step down,” senior DP parliament member Park Chan-dae said in a statement.
The National Assembly can impeach the president if more than two-thirds of the deputies vote for it. The trial is then conducted by the Constitutional Court, which can be confirmed by a vote of six out of nine judges.
Yoon’s party controls 108 seats in the 300-member legislature.
If Yoon resigns or is removed from office, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will step in as leader until new elections are held.
“South Korea as a nation dodged a bullet, but President Yoon may have shot himself in the foot,” said Danny Russell, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute think tank in the United States.
The crisis in the country, which has been a democracy since the 1980s, an ally of the US and a major Asian economy, has caused international alarm.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he welcomed Yoon’s decision to lift the emergency declaration.
“We continue to expect political disagreements to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law,” Blinken said in a statement.
South Korea hosts about 28,500 US troops as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Planned defense talks and joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States have been postponed, Yonhap news agency reported.
The Swedish prime minister has also postponed a visit to South Korea, the spokesman said.
Yoon, a professional prosecutor, pulled off victory in the tightest presidential election in South Korea’s history in 2022, riding a wave of discontent over economic policies, scandals and gender wars.
But he has been unpopular, with his approval rating hovering around 20% for months.
His People’s Power Party suffered a landslide defeat in parliamentary elections in April this year, handing control of the unicameral assembly to opposition parties that won nearly two-thirds of the seats.
There have been more than a dozen cases of martial law declared since South Korea was established as a republic in 1948.
In 1980, a group of military officers led by Chun Doo-hwan forced then-President Choi Kyu-ha to declare a state of emergency to crush opposition, labor and student calls for the restoration of a democratic government.
